Suprise, surprise! The Samsung Galaxy S III is the official London 2012 Olympics phone

Samsung has finally come clean and confirmed what we all knew already: the Galaxy S III is the official smartphone of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

It was all of a year ago now that Sammy first hinted that it would be making the official Games blower, and while it hasn't said a single word since on which specific handset would get the nod, there wasn't really any doubt.

It's still less than a week since the Galaxy S III finally showed its face, but Samsung is clearly trying everything it can to keep the handset firmly in our minds as we wait for it to actually go on sale at the end of the month.

So no surprise at the timing of the Olympics phone announcement, which was shared by Samsung and Visa (yes, you guessed it – the official Olympics payment partner), drawing attention to the Galaxy S III's NFC capabilities.

But while you'll be able to take advantage of those NFC smarts on all Galaxy S III handsets, getting your hands on one of the limited edition phones built especially for the London Games won't be quite as easy: you'll either have to be one of the sponsored athletes, or a “selected triallist” for the programme.

If so, the installed Visa payWave app will enable you to pay for merchandise, food and drink in the Olympic Village and around London during the Games. And after them too, obviously.

Visa reckons there will be a total of 140,000 compatible pay points up and running in London by the time the 2012 Games get underway on July 27.